HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, November 7, 2025) - Utah Royals FC announced the extension of sporting director Kelly Cousins as well as the addition of new Head of Recruitment Harvey Bussell, who most recently served in the same role at Manchester United W.F.C.
Bussell and Cousins will be part of a front office led by the newly-appointed President of Soccer Operations Jason Kreis.
“While working closely with numerous aspects of the Royals setup in recent months, both myself and the Miller Sports + Entertainment leadership believe that many of the skillful and talented people belong here and are aligned with our commitment to stability and continuity as we relentlessly and tirelessly look to build an elite Club,” said Kreis.
“Kelly has done an extensive amount of heavy lifting during the very difficult expansion years, as have [URFC Head Coach] Jimmy Coenraets and countless others. We believe the addition of Harvey’s experience, pedigree and global connections will help us achieve our goals of competing seriously for trophies, while we further our ‘winning together through development’ ethos and make our NWSL community proud, both on and off the field.”
Cousins has completed two seasons as Sporting Director for Utah Royals FC since her arrival at the Club in July, 2023. Before joining the Royals, Cousins was part of Reading FC’s women’s team as the Director of Women’s and Girls Football before becoming the Women’s 1st team Assistant Manager in June, 2012. In November 2014, Cousins was elevated to Director of Women’s and Girls Football and Women’s 1st Team Manager.
Since joining the Club in 2023, Cousins has brought in an array of talented staff. Utah Royals FC Head Coach Jimmy Coenraets was elevated from an assistant coach to interim manager last summer, prior to his appointment as the permanent URFC head coach on October 24, 2024. Coenraets, arriving as a young coach with proven success, boasting 77 wins and 26 draws against 12 losses during his five seasons at OH Leuven (Belgium). URFC Assistant Coach Sam Lismont followed Coenraets from Leuven, where Lismont was the team’s video analyst and assistant coach. Lismont is now the performance coach and performance analyst.
To begin the 2025 season, Cousins added assistant coach Emily Simpkins, who came to Utah after spending over a year in a similar role at Birmingham City FC. Elise Vadiveloo was brought in from WSL side Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club to become Utah Royals FC’s new head of medical.
On the pitch, Cousins has overseen the Utah arrival of several marquee players, including former Arsenal forward Cloé Lacasse, Danish international Janni Thomsen, and Slovenian international Lara Prašnikar. More recently, Cousins and URFC secured a three-year extension for Japanese international Mina Tanaka, the MVP and Golden Ball winner of the most recent She Believes Cup.
Harvey Bussell - URFC Head of Recruitment
In 2022, Bussell joined Manchester United W.F.C. as an emerging talent scout for a single season, prior to becoming the legendary club’s head of recruitment before the 2023 campaign. Bussell enjoyed great success with United W.F.C, recruiting USWNT goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Netherlands international Dominique Janssen, and Women’s Euro winner Grace Clinton.
Bussell’s professional soccer journey began at Burton Albion FC as the academy coach, before rising up to become the chief scout analyst back in 2012. In 2013, while working with Burton Albion FC, he was named the head football coach for the University of Derby. In 2014 Bussell moved to Birmingham City FC as a technical scout. Promoted to head of recruitment while at Birmingham City FC, Bussell later made the transition to head of recruitment for Millwall Football Club back in 2021, one year prior to his Manchester United move.
Media Contacts:
Utah Royals Football Club
Zuhayr Maung
Zuhayr.Maung@RSL.com
About the Utah Royals FC / Real Salt Lake Club:
Beginning with the 2024 season, Real Salt Lake ownership brought the National Women’s Soccer League back to Utah, returning the Utah Royals FC to the state. Led by Sporting Director Kelly Cousins and Head Coach Jimmy Coenraets, Utah Royals FC aims to seize upon the astounding success of the NWSL and tremendous strength of women’s soccer in Utah, its third campaign in its second iteration kicking off in Spring 2026.
Real Salt Lake completed its 21st Major League Soccer season two weeks ago, its fifth full season under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, who assumed the RSL reins on an interim basis for the final 100 days of 2021. RSL is the lone Western Conference team to have advanced to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the last five campaigns, amassing 15 postseason appearances in the last 18 years, notably in seven of the last eight seasons (2020).
RSL’s MLS Cup 2009 victory marked the state of Utah’s only major professional championship in nearly 40 years, the title preceding a historic run to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final. Buoyed by a passionate fan base, boasting several thousand season ticket holders and the “RioT” Supporters Group, RSL opened its permanent home in Sandy just over 17 years ago. Since October 2008, RSL has recorded a 179-72-90 (W-L-T) mark at America First Field, achieving a 1.84 points per game average and a 0.657 win pct – truly amazing value propositions in the North American sporting landscape today.
In 2015, the Club expanded its development pyramid with the addition of the Real Monarchs. Since the 2022 season, the Real Monarchs have competed in the “MLS NEXT Pro”, which connects youth academies in MLS NEXT to first teams in MLS. There are currently more than 60 student athletes representing the RSL Academy’s U-16 and U-18 teams in MLS NEXT.
All teams call the expansive Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah their daily training home. The 42-acre campus includes five world-class grass fields, two indoor turf fields, a residential dormitory, and the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium. Nearly 18 months ago, the Utah Royals FC opened an 11,000+ square-foot expansion to the training site to give the Utah Royals FC their own exclusive world-class facility resources.
The Miller family and Miller Sports + Entertainment acquired RSL Football Holdings from David Blitzer in April 2025, with Blitzer remaining the second-largest owner.
